Tree of Life

For a long time, humans have used plant motifs on objects such as pottery, goblet, and others, which sometimes have a symbolic appearance and were very important in the relics of a particular period. One of the most important motifs, that has a Mesopotamian origin, is the tree of life. The tree of life is a plant that is found in many mythical traditions of the Near East such as Mesopotamia, Anatolia and Egypt. The flower of life or the motif of geometric rosette is another valuable motif with six petals. In this paper, the authors first discuss the symbols and symbolism and then investigate the background of the tree of life and then discuss the motif of geometric rostte or flower of life, and later focus on the Golden, Silver and Bronze findings at the sites of Marlik, Amarlu in Gilan and Kelardasht in Mazandaran related to iron age of Iran and investigate the impact of this symbolic motif on archaeological findings in the surrounding sites that have probably transformed the motif of the tree of life into the flower of life. This motif emerged among the communities of northern Iran during a period almost identical to the Assyrian era at the bottom of the Golden and Silver and Bronze goblets and is a kind of symbol of the tree of life that then the artists replaced the sacred tree with six petal rosette.

Associating certain forms and designs in Islamic Arts with the promised Heaven may be widely observed in the works of many historians and critics of the field. It is believed that Islamic Art has been derived from the imagination of the Paradise as depicted in Holy Quran. To express this meaning in technical words it should be said that the main concept in Islamic Arts has been the gardens of heaven generally described as containing the green trees (the tree of life), colorful flowers, flowing rivers, the ethereal drinks and foods, and even Huries (beautiful young virgins dressing in green fine silk) at the service of those who are permitted to meet God.